Jasmine of Pearl
by gemstoneshaman
Summary: {{Abandoned}} Ria Yamanaka is perfectly happy being best friends with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. She really is, especially with all of the trouble her twin gets into on a daily basis. Sadly, Shikamaru begs to differ.
1. Iris

**Me: I do not own Naruto! Ah, and please don't count on regular updates. They generally don't happen.**

* * *

 _Iris: your friendship means so much to me_

 **Life**

Two twins were born on September 29th to the Yamanaka Clan.

"Here you go," The nurse said with a smile, giving the small bundle to her father.

Inoichi glanced down at his daughter and felt his heart soften. A tiny, defenseless face with curly light blonde hair and innocent blue eyes looked back at him trustingly.

"Dear?" His wife called and he grinned, looking back up. Yamanaka Hanako looked exhausted, but satisfied, holding the older girl in her arms. She smiled happily at him. "What shall we name them?"

"Hmm..." He thought for a moment before glancing down at his younger daughter, grin widening.

"I think this one," Inoichi lightly taped his daughter's nose, "will be Yamanaka Inori, or Ria for short. And that one," He glanced at the older baby, "will be Yamanaka Ino, in going with family tradition."

Hanako laughed softly and beamed at her babies. "Well then, Ino and Ria, welcome to this world."

 **Order**

The twins were vastly different, that was easy to tell even though the girls were but toddlers.

Ino was loud and demanding, outspoken and brash. She cried loudly when she didn't get what she wanted, imperiously ordered her parents around to their amusement.

Ria was quiet and gentle, soft-spoken and shy. She accepted disagreements without arguing in the slightest, did what her parents requested obediently.

It was also plainly obvious that the two girls adored each other. Ino stood up for her younger sister when she could, and Ria comforted her older sister when she was upset. Ino never tried to order her sister around, and Ria followed after her sister like a little chick.

Their parents were quite amused.

"What do you think, dear?" Hanako asked her husband curiously, watching the girls gather flowers from the backyard with a soft, fond smile.

"Ria definitely has a passive personality." The former Head of the T&I Division said. "Ino's far more aggressive."

"That's not bad though, is it?" She fretted.

"No, no." Inoichi reassured her. "It's not bad, that's simply their inherent personalities." He paused for a moment, trying to put it into terms his wife would understand. "If Ino's a blunt, candid love like a bush clover, then Ria's a gentle and sweet love like a jasmine flower."

"Mama!" Ino ran up to them, a bundle of flowers in her hands and Ria following in her footsteps. "Look, look!"

Hanako laughed and bent down to smell the flowers. "That's very good, sweetie."

Ria toddled up to her Papa and looked at him with wide blue eyes, holding up her hands in the universal pick-me-up gesture.

Inoichi chuckled and obliged her, setting her down on his knee. "Hello, little jasmine." He said, brushing a blonde ringlet off his daughter's face.

She giggled, face bright with an innocence that he wished she could keep forever.

 **Bully**

"Come on, come on, Ria!" Ino called, pulling enthusiastically on her twin's hand, her light purple dress fluttering around her.

Ria laughed softly and went along indulgently. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

The girls had turned four a month ago and had only just been allowed to go outside without parental supervision. Most parents didn't worry about things like that - it was a ninja village, after all - but Inoichi was protective. It had taken both his wife's persuasion and his daughter's puppy-dog eyes that had made him cave.

If she was honest with herself, Ria didn't really want to go out in the Village by herself. There were so many unfamiliar people and everything was always so loud. But Ino loved it and so Ria had gone along with it.

Ria loved her sister. She knew her sister loved her, too.

That morning, Mama had led them through their morning stretches, - for flexibility, she had told them - gave them their daily lesson on flowers and let them off with a smile and a gentle warning.

"This way, this way!" Ino chanted, weaving effortlessly through the crowds.

She smiled, doing her best to keep up with her twin. A few minutes later, Ria found herself in front of a tall building where there was a large gathering of kids that was dividing themselves into two different groups.

Ria bit her lip, automatically shrinking behind Ino. She didn't like large crowds and she liked unfamiliar kids even less.

Ino patted her on the shoulder comfortingly and proceeded to walk up to the other kids confidently, Ria following her like her shadow. "Hey, guys!" She said boldly.

One of the girls looked up and recognized her. "Ino-chan!" She smiled happily at the blonde girl. Ino went out with Mama in the village far more than Ria did.

"Ino!"

"Ino-chan!"

"Hey!"

Various greetings were called out from the crowd and Ria grimaced, wishing she could sink into the floor. She knew her twin was popular, but she didn't know she was _this_ popular. She wasn't like Ino, wasn't as pretty and brave and confident. She was just quiet Ria who liked to play with flowers.

Taking no notice of her twin's anxiety, Ino forcibly pulled Ria beside her, saying, "Guys, this is my twin sister, Ria. Say hi!"

"Hey, Ria-chan!"

"Hello!"

"Hi!"

To her relief, it seemed like the kids liked Ino enough that they accepted her without too much fanfare. Someone else wasn't that fortunate.

"We're going to be playing ninja!" The lead kid with the hat said. "But not you!" He pointed at a kid with swirls on his cheeks.

"I'm not going to let you play ninja!" He declared.

The kid looked hurt. "Why?" He asked plaintively.

Ria cringed. She didn't like this; she didn't want to watch this! This was painful...

"Because if you play, we're going to lose!" The lead kid said.

"You're too slow." Another kid added.

The outcast lowered his head sadly, and Ria felt like giving him a hug. She glanced at Ino to see her watching the scene apathetically. What would she do? She didn't want the other boy to feel sad...but she didn't want the other kids to hate her either...

"But then, the teams will not be even." A kid with his hair tied up reminded them and Ria felt a flash of hope. Maybe she wouldn't have to do anything after all. "In Shogi, the game isn't interesting unless you have the same number of pieces."

The outcast looked up, eyes hopeful. She felt like cheering, but abruptly had her good mood dashed by the kid with that hat.

"Having useless pieces is the same as not having any pieces at all." He said bluntly.

"That's right, that's right!" His sidekick agreed.

Ria winced as the kid with the swirls' face fell again. This wasn't right, but she was terrified of speaking up and having everyone look at her.

"We have less people, so no complaints, okay? Let's start." The kid with the hat put his hands on his hips.

"If you guys are happy with it, that's fine." One of the boys from the other team said.

"Alright, it's decided!" He held up a fist.

"We're going to win!" His friend chimed in.

Ria felt her heart drop to her feet as she watched the boy with the swirls walk away desolately. How could the other kids be so cruel? As she watched, he gently freed a butterfly from a spider web. He was so nice...and the others were so mean! Why did those boys have to be such bullies?

She wanted to run after the boy and tell him that he shouldn't listen to the others, but that would make her an outcast too, right? Was it worth it? She wouldn't have any friends and the other kids would shun her...but that was the right thing to do, wasn't it?

Before Ria could decide, Ino had already taken her hand and pulled them into a group. "Come on, Ria!" She said brightly. "We're going to win this!"

"Y-Yeah." She tried to smile back at her twin. "We are."

But the boy with the swirls still bothered her.

 **Rooftop**

Two games later and Ria quietly slipped away from the group, telling Ino she wanted to rest for a bit. She had seen the boy with the tied up hair head towards the building and she was fairly certain the boy with the swirls had walked towards there too.

She wanted to check if he was okay, if he was still hurting. Ria didn't like it when other people were hurting.

She didn't find the boys in the building, but she did find some stairs. Shrugging to herself, Ria walked up the steps and found herself on a rooftop. Glancing around, she found the two boys and a man that looked like the boy with the swirls' father sitting on a bench, staring at her.

Ria smiled timidly and walked closer, looking closer at the boys. They sat side by side and the one with the swirls was eating and sharing his potato chips, from the look of things.

"I saw what happened outside." She said hesitantly. "Are you alright?"

He blinked at her, looking surprised. "Y-Yes. I'm fine."

"Oh. Good." Ria breathed a sigh of relief. "Please forgive me." She bowed quickly, her blonde curls flying everywhere for a long moment.

Both boys looked stumped. The one with his dark hair tied up asked, "Why? You didn't do anything."

"I know." She bit her lip, feeling really guilty. "And I'm sorry! I wanted to say something, but I'm new so..."

"It's okay." The boy with the swirls smiled kindly at her. "I wouldn't have done anything either."

Ria beamed. "Thank you so much! You are alright, though?" She didn't want the boy to lie.

"I'm okay now." He said. "I'm Choji, Akimichi Choji."

"Nara Shikamaru." The boy with dark hair introduced himself lazily.

"I'm Yamanaka Ria." She said, feeling a tad shy. "It's nice to meet you."

"Ria, is it?" Choji's father spoke up, getting to his feet. She blinked at him, surprised. "You're Inoichi's daughter, right?"

"Um... yes?" It came out sounding more like a question than an answer. Choji's father was a little intimidating even though she knew he was Papa's friend.

He smiled at her, making her feel more at ease. "How about you sit here then?" He gestured to his seat. "I should go talk to my wife."

"Um... er..." Ria shifted her weight awkwardly. "I don't want to intrude." Especially since it looked like Choji and Shikamaru were already friends.

"Oh, it's okay!" Choji said immediately. She glanced at Shikamaru who blinked at her and jerked his head towards the seat.

Ria took the seat, still not sure whether it was okay. Maybe they were just being polite; they probably didn't really want her here-

"Chip?" Choji offered.

Ria smiled and took the potato chip. It was delicious.

And that was how she made her first friends.

When Choza told his teammates about the incident later, Shikaku and Inoichi were equally delighted.

 **Friends**

Ria liked Shikamaru and Choji. They were both really nice.

Shikamaru was smart. Like really, really smart. She figured that out when he taught her the rules of Shogi and beat her 100 times out of 100. It was a good thing she wasn't a sore loser. But he was also really, really lazy. He spent most of his time watching the clouds and most of the time, got her to join him, too.

Choji was a caring boy. He always shared his food with her and he always had food with him. Ino told her in private that he was fat and that she should probably get him to diet, but Ria honestly didn't mind his appearance. Choji was Choji. Besides, hadn't Choji's papa been the same?

She spent the majority of her time with Shikamaru and Choji at the rooftop where they had first talked. Shikamaru would watch the clouds, Choji would eat his chips, and she would gently chat with both of them. If they noticed how shy she could be, they didn't say a word.

She had been worried that Ino would feel left out, but her twin was okay. She had met a girl named Sakura and they were fast friends, now. She liked Sakura well enough, but Ria considered Shikamaru and Choji her best friends. They shared the sentiment.

A year passed quickly and Ria turned five with her friends. Then, they were sent to the Academy.

 **School**

"Ne, Shika-kun." Ria whispered, nudging the boy discreetly with her elbow. They had already spent a year in the Academy and he knew what the consequences for this were!

Her lazy friend slept on, ignoring the fact that they were supposed to be paying attention to Sensei's lecture.

"Shika-kun!" She whispered louder, jabbing him a bit harder.

He snorted and shifted slightly to her exasperation. She was preparing for another attempt when it became too late.

"NARA SHIKAMARU!" Sensei roared, throwing an eraser across the room with deadly accuracy. The soft material hit Shikamaru hard on the head and he grunted, eyes snapping open and instinctively sitting upright.

"I'm up, I'm up." He grumbled. From where she was sandwiched between him and Choji, Ria sighed and shook her head.

A vein pulsed in Sensei's forehead. "DETENTION!"

Choji chuckled and ate another potato chip.

"AND DON'T THINK I DON'T SEE YOU, AKIMICHI CHOJI! DETENTION FOR YOU, TOO!"

Ria sighed once more as Choji's face fell.

 **Abduction**

One day, her Papa came back home with a grim face, dressed in his shinobi attire. Ria was instantly worried; normally Papa didn't do ninja stuff. Much.

"Papa?" She questioned, walking up to him and tilting her head all the way back to see his face. Her Papa was really tall. "Are you okay?"

Inoichi gave a strained smile, but picked up his youngest daughter, holding her at his hip. "Come along, little jasmine." He said fondly, walking over to the kitchen. "I have to talk to your sister, too.

"Oh." Ria frowned, small hands patting at his broad shoulders. "Did something happen?"

"How about you call your sister?" He sat down in his chair, placing her on the ground. "I'll tell you both."

She bit her lip, but ran off obligingly. Ria knew where her sister was. She always knew where her sister was. Well, usually. Zooming into their room, she skidded to a halt.

Ino looked up from where she was brushing her still wet hair, blue eyes wide. "Ria?"

"Come on." Ria tugged lightly at her sister's sleeve. "Papa wants to talk to us."

Ino frowned, but jumped off her chair and followed her sister in running all the way back to the kitchen. By the time they fought to come to a stop in front of Inoichi, pin-wheeling their arms for balance, the twins were both out of breath.

Papa chuckled, face relaxing at last. Picking them up, he settled them on the table in front of him so that their legs dangled off the edge.

"Mama's going to be angry with us later." Ino pointed out, starting to swing her legs freely.

"Oh..." Ria shifted uneasily, keeping herself still and away from all the pretty plates.

Inoichi smiled faintly. "I think she'll forgive us this one time." He reassured them. "Now, girls, I need you to listen to me closely, okay?" His face turned serious again, and the twins exchanged a worried look. They had never seen their Papa act like this.

"We're listening." They chorused.

"Good. Yesterday night, the Hyuga Heiress was almost abducted." He told them solemnly.

Ino scrunched up her forehead. "Ab-duc-t-ed...?"

"Like... like kidnapped...?" Ria, who read far more books than her sister ever bothered with, was horrified.

Inoichi nodded grimly, a deep frown causing wrinkles on his face that Ria wanted to wipe away. "That's right, she was almost kidnapped."

Ino gasped, "That's horrible! They didn't get away with it, did they?!"

"No, no." Papa shook his head. "But that doesn't make it any worse. I know you girls think that I'm overprotective - and maybe I am - but I want you both to be careful, alright? Konoha is safe, but there's still some danger lurking out there."

"You... you don't think that we might..." Ria trailed off, starting to shiver. Ino instinctively scooted closer, wrapping her sister in a hug.

Inoichi hesitated. "You're both my daughters." He said at last. "And while the Yamanaka Clan isn't as wide-known as the Hyuga Clan, there might, _might_ be bad guys who want to use the power of our Mind jutsu."

"But they can't take away Ria-chan!" Ino declared shrilly at once, tears starting to appear in her blue eyes.

"Of course not." Papa said soothingly. "Which is why I want you girls to be careful and look out for each other, okay?"

Ino and Ria glanced at each other, an unspoken promise flying between them. 'I won't ever let anyone hurt you.' They promised to each other silently.

"Okay!"

 **Memorable**

"Why do you guys go on doing this?" Ria asked later, sounding mildly exasperated.

Shikamaru glanced at her, covering a yawn. As always, they were on their rooftop and the boys were doing what they did best: cloud-watching and eating. She was rearranging a few flowers that he knew she had grown herself into different arrangements in a crystal bowl.

Were it any other girl with that tone in her voice, he would have been a tad disturbed and readying himself for a temper tantrum, but he had known her for two years and in that time, she had yet to lose her temper. Once.

"Doing what?" He asked. Choji crunched another potato chip.

She gifted him with a reproachful look, placing the bright red poppy next to the small daises. "You know full well what I'm talking about, Shika-kun."

He smiled, amused by the little nickname that only she called him by. "The sleeping and eating in class?"

"Yes." She frowned a bit at her bowl and shifted the bamboo. "Why?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Why not? Sleeping is much nicer than hearing our Sensei babble on and on."

"Shika-kun!" Ria gasped at the disrespect, throwing a blade of grass at him half-heatedly.

He dodged it easily. "What? It's true. Choji, back me up here!"

"He is a little boring..." Choji ventured hesitantly.

"See?"

She shook her head at them, evidently giving up that topic as a lost cause. "If you say so..."

Shikamaru smirked and redirected his attention to the clouds. Ria simply didn't have the heart to debate heavily; it was one of the two reasons why she rarely won arguments. The other was that she just didn't like conflict, no matter that she was training to be a kunoichi.

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 _Next time:_

 _Somehow, Ria had the feeling Ino's crush wouldn't turn out well. But she said nothing and let things be._

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 **Me: And... I've finally managed to get this story up in the air! Hmm... review and check out my blog? Link's on my profile. Please? Thanks to my betas, of course!**

 **Ri: jasmine**


	2. Marigold

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

 **Ria: U-Uh, yes...?**

 **Me: But you should totally review! And check out my blog~**

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 _Marigold: cruelty, grief, jealousy_

 **Hinata**

Ria smiled happily as she listened to Suzume-sensei teach them the finer arts of flower-gathering and undercover work. Kunoichi classes were her favorite out of all of the classes she took. She actually thought she might be able to use the information one day.

"Now, pair up and go on!" Suzume-sensei said.

Uh-oh. She glanced around and saw that Ino had already paired up with Sakura, as she had expected. Her twin shot her an apologetic look, but she just smiled and turned her attention to the rest of the girls.

She didn't begrudge Ino's friendship with Sakura; she loved to spend time with Shikamaru and Choji, too. But she didn't like trying to approach strangers. It made her uncomfortable.

Glancing around, she noted that most of the other girls had already paired up. Her eyes caught on a girl standing off to the side with pretty dark blue hair and lavender-white eyes, poking her fingers together.

Ria hesitantly walked up to the Hyuga, as she recognized the girl as, inwardly preparing herself for rejection. 'It'll be okay,' she told herself. 'It won't be the end of the world. Besides, she's a Hyuga, so she probably expects the most... and I'm not exactly number one.' Ria knew she was average, at best.

"Hey." She said and then promptly berated herself when she realized that it had come out as a squeak.

The girl glanced up, looking surprised and hopeful. Cheered on by the good signs, Ria managed to smile at her. "My name is Yamanaka Ria. Would you like to be my partner?" She held out her hand and held her breath.

The girl stared at her hand, eyes wide, before taking it, smiling back timidly. "H-Hello, R-Ria-chan. M-My n-name is H-Hyuga Hinata."

Ria blinked, not sure about the other girl's stuttering. She was fairly certain that most Hyugas weren't that meek, but she didn't mind. It made Hinata more likable, in her humble opinion.

And... wasn't Hinata Hyuga the Hyuga Heiress? She was pretty sure she was. Ria bit her lip, reminded of the time her Papa had come home with such an upset expression. To get abducted by enemy shinobi... she couldn't imagine the horror. Hinata must be really strong, she decided. No matter her stuttering.

"Well, then, Hinata-chan, let's go and get some flowers, ne?"

"H-Hai!"

And Ria became friends with Hinata.

Hinata was nice, practically as nice as Choji, to Ria's quiet surprise. She had thought, in the back of her mind, that most Hyugas were proud and arrogant, but once she realized that, she had hurriedly stomped on that notion, horrified. Papa certainly hadn't raised her to be prejudiced!

To her concern, her new friend was also pretty lacking in self-confidence. Ria knew that she was rather demure and shy, but she wasn't lacking in confidence, Ino had made sure of that. She silently vowed to boost Hinata's self-confidence; it was her job as a friend.

Hinata's crush on Naruto came as a shock. Eventually though, she came to accept it. It was great amusement, so long as it didn't embarrass the other girl.

 **Hatred**

Uzumaki Naruto... Ria didn't really what to feel about him.

He was so _loud_. Always shouting and running and bouncing and screaming. And he wore bright orange, too. In this, Ria agreed with Ino; it was a terrible, terrible outfit that Naruto wore. Plus, what was with his goggles?

Then, there were his pranks. Ria was relieved to be able to say that she, personally, had never been one of his victims, but that was probably only because she was so quiet Naruto never really noticed her. Sorta like Hinata. Still, just watching the aftermaths of his pranks was scary enough.

Iruka-sensei, covered in the colors of the rainbow, face going crimson, and head mysteriously expanding to a monstrous size to better yell at the blonde rolling on the floor in laughter, was scarier.

And yet...

Ria frowned thoughtfully when she caught Naruto sitting on a swing in the playground all by himself again. He was almost always there after school was over, when everyone else was rushing home with their parents or older siblings.

She hadn't noticed him this much before, but after learning of Hinata's crush...

"Ne, Papa?" Ria patted her daddy's knee to get his attention.

Inoichi smiled tenderly at his baby girl. "Yes, Ria?"

"Is Naruto an orphan?" Ria didn't like to think of being an orphan. She loved her Mama and Papa, and she couldn't imagine what her life would be without them. But she had never seen Naruto's parents even once.

A weird look crossed her Papa's face. "Yes, little jasmine. He's an orphan."

"Is that why everyone doesn't like him?"

"Why do you think everyone doesn't like him?" Papa questioned, speaking slowly.

She blinked. "Wellll... a lot of the teachers at school pick on him all the time. And a lot of the civilian kids ignore him." And now that she thought about it, that must be really painful! Ria instantly felt guilty for never noticing before.

"Ria, why are you focusing on _Naruto_?" Ino frowned, tossing back her hair. "He's so annoying."

"Ah." Ria shrugged, making shapes in the dirt with the tip of her shoe. "Just curious, I guess."

"Well, you shouldn't worry about it." Her sister said confidently. "Come on, let's go get pudding!

"... Okay." Ria agreed, but inwardly resolved to talk to Shikamaru about it later. He was smart; he would probably know. Besides, her Papa looked suspiciously relieved even as he caved into Ino's demands and pleas for dessert. So something was probably going on.

"Naruto?" Shikamaru frowned when she asked about it two days later while they were on their rooftop. "What about him?"

"He's nice." Choji said, munching on his chips.

Ria bit her lip, blue eyes conflicted. "Do... Do you know why everyone seems to hate him?" She didn't understand it, couldn't understand it. Ria had never hated anyone in her life.

Shikamaru looked thoughtful. "You know, I asked my old man about that once." He revealed with a yawn.

She blinked. "What did he say?" Ria had met Shikaku once or twice and had come out of each encounter with the impression that the Nara Head was even smarter than Shika. Well, until he got more experience, that is.

"He said I should just make up my own mind about things." Shikamaru said. "Troublesome."

Ria frowned, fidgeting with a helenium nervously. "My Papa wouldn't answer me either. It's not... it's not some big secret, is it?" She wasn't sure she liked secrets. They seemed bad.

"If you want, I can talk to my dad about it." Choji said.

"Nah." Shikamaru flapped a hand dismissively. "It's too troublesome. Ria, don't go poking into those things."

"You think I might get into tr-trouble?" Oh. Ria winced. Her stutter always came out when she was feeling nervous, but getting into trouble was really, really bad. Her Mama had said so.

He shrugged lazily. "Maybe. Just keep yourself out of it."

"Ah. O-Okay." Ria shifted uneasily. "Um... do you think Naruto's lonely?" Because that sounded utterly terrible.

Shikamaru groaned. "You're not thinking of trying to be friends with him, are you?"

Ria stared sullenly at the ground. She didn't disagree.

Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag. Look, Ria, Naruto is even more troublesome than Ino. Leave him to Sasuke or something."

"Ino's not troublesome." Ria defended loyally.

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru covered a yawn, directing a halfhearted glare at the blonde. He knew his friend's temperament, and he knew Naruto's temperament. The Uzumaki would completely steamroll Ria and not even notice. It was a terrible match-up.

"You... you really think Sasuke is enough?"

"Eeh, they seem pretty close to me." Choji said, reaching into his bag and holding out a potato chip comfortingly. "Chip?"

"Thanks, Choji-kun."

"Naruto'll be fine. Stop fussing." Shikamaru stared dreamily at the clouds. Now if he could only take a nap right about now...

"If you say so..." Ria said hesitantly. Regardless, she resolved to herself that even if she wasn't going to be Naruto's friend, she was going to be nice to him. Because no one deserved to be treated meanly, like those bullies had done to Choji.

Ah, but not too nice, less Hinata think Ria liked Naruto, too! Maybe she simply wouldn't talk to him? But, oh, wasn't that the same as being mean?!

Ria sighed, shoulders slumping. As usual, Shika was right. This really was troublesome.

 **Mind**

"Alright, girls." Inoichi said after leading them to an empty training ground. "We're going to be going over the Mind Body Switch Technique."

"Yes!" Ino beamed, thrusting her fists in the air. "Finally! I thought we were going to have to wait _forever_."

Ria giggled at her sister's enthusiasm, but was just as excited. They were going to learn their clan's secret technique!

Papa smiled at them. "Calm down now. Now, the Mind Body Switch Technique sends your mind as spiritual energy into a target's body, taking over the target's mind with your own. You will learn the exact same technique, but I do believe you two will develop different approaches to utilizing this technique."

They exchanged a look. "What do you mean, Papa?" Ino asked.

"Your personalities are different, Ino." He explained. "And that's going to affect how you're going to perform this jutsu. Ino, you will most likely do what comes most easy to us; take over the mind in one blow through sheer force. It'll happen in seconds, suppressing the target's mind through utter strength."

Ria frowned, a little concerned. "And me, Papa?"

He patted her head reassuringly. "You, Ria, will most likely take over your target's mind inch by inch, do it so slow that they don't even know that you're there until it's too late. When you're done, it's quite possible that the target won't ever be able to break out of your control, no matter the circumstances."

Ino and Ria glanced at each other, taking in that information. "Which way is the best, Papa?" Ino wanted to know.

Inoichi shook his head. "Both are powerful in their own right. In combat, it is a valuable skill to be able to quickly and efficiently take over your enemy's mind. Sometimes, speed is the most critical element to success. However, if the enemy has a strong will, it is possible for that enemy to break out of the jutsu."

"In stealth or espionage missions, it is important for you to be able to take over your target's mind without anyone noticing otherwise, but that pause may be lethal in a battle." He continued evenly, "Still, when it comes to searching the mind for information, being meticulous is more important than being quick."

They took a moment to digest that. He waited patiently; he wanted his girls to understand this was an important part of what they needed to know and then -

"So, can we get started now?" Ino asked impatiently, clearly not having wasted a moment of time on his explanation.

Ria said nothing, but she seemed to be sharing her sister's point of view.

Inoichi sighed and started to guide his precious daughters through the steps of the infamous Yamanaka jutsu.

 **Crush**

Ria seriously did not know what to think when her twin sister announced her obsession on Uchiha Sasuke for the world to hear.

On one hand, she was happy that her sister was actively pursuing her interest. Ino was certainly happy and if her twin was happy, Ria was happy.

On the other hand, she was rather mortified for her sister. She would _never_ have been able to say what Ino did. At that same time, she was also proud Ino was brave enough to do so.

Then, there was the fact that she barely knew anything about Uchiha Sasuke and she wasn't sure she wanted her sister to be fixated on a mysterious boy. Sadly, Shikamaru and Choji hadn't been of much help.

"Troublesome." Shika had muttered. "He's the youngest son of Uchiha Fugaku, the Head of the Uchiha Clan, and Sakura's also interested in him."

Upon learning that little tidbit of information, Ria had come to the conclusion that Ino's sudden obsession probably had roots in her relationship with Sakura...

"He's pretty good in taijutsu." Choji had offered. "Little cold but sorta nice." Coming from kind, friendly Choji, that wasn't saying much.

Somehow, Ria had the feeling that Ino's crush wouldn't turn out well. But she said nothing and let things be. It was Ino's decision.

She was none too happy when her guess turned out to be true. Ino rushed home one day, tears in her eyes, and flung herself into her twin's arms, sobbing openly. She had told Ria that she would be staying after school with Sakura, so why...?

"Ino?" Ria whispered, confused and upset. It had been a long time since she had seen Ino cry, and she didn't like it. Dragging her twin up to their room, she hugged her tight, whispering soothingly in her ear.

When Ino's tears had been reduced to the occasional hiccup, Ria pulled back to look at her red face. "Ino, what happened?" She asked, deeply worried.

"It's Sakura." Ino said, her identical blue eyes pained. "She doesn't want to be friends with me anymore!"

Ria blinked. From what she had observed, Ino and Sakura were - had been best friends. She didn't understand this.

"Why?" She questioned.

"Because of Sasuke-kun." Ino spat out. "She likes him, too, and she said that because we both like him, we can't be friends anymore!"

Oh. She winced. There was truly nothing she could do about that. Biting her lip, Ria just held her sister comfortingly while she spilled out how the whole situation with Sakura went.

"I would have let Sasuke-kun go!" Ino cried. "But did she ask? No! She just decided to make the stupid decision all by herself!"

Ria said nothing, but rubbed small circles on Ino's back. She didn't blame Sakura, it was her choice... but she didn't think they would become friends anytime soon. She couldn't be friends with someone who had made her twin cry like this.

 **Placements**

"Shika-kun?" Ria questioned one spring afternoon, gently stroking the petals of a particularly magnificent rose.

"What is it?" He asked without taking his eyes off of the sky.

"Why don't you put in more of an effort in the Academy?" Both of them were lying on the grass of a hill, the sun warming them up nicely. Choji had left a couple of minutes ago and soon they would be splitting up as well; the sun was starting its descent down the horizon.

For all her gentle fussing, Ria had never been able to understand why Shikamaru waved off his grades so easily and she knew he was. He was far too smart for it to have been anything but deliberate, she knew that. He could probably ace all his tests easily.

For her, it was instinct to put everything she had into whatever it was that she was doing. That didn't mean she wasn't aware of her grades, though. In the class, she had a relatively high score, but she made sure it was beneath Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino's.

She had no desire to be in the middle of _that_ problem.

On the other hand, Shikamaru had one of the lowest grades in the class while Choji's grade was average. What she didn't understand was the reason behind it; they weren't, in any way, dumb. Not even close, to be honest.

"Troublesome." He grumbled. "In the end, it doesn't matter."

She blinked. "It doesn't matter?" What did he mean? Weren't grades really important?

"Not really." Shikamaru covered a yawn. "No matter what my scores are, I'll still be placed on a team with Choji and you or Ino as the new Ino-Shika-Cho in the end."

"Oh." She breathed softly, eyes wide. She hadn't forgotten about that - just temporarily put it out of her mind. Ria frowned, eyebrows furrowing.

Shika was right, of course, but she couldn't decide whether she was happy or not. If Ria was placed on a team with Shika and Choji, she would be ecstatic that she was with her best friends, but she would also be concerned for her twin, as Ino would be placed with other genin, genin that might get her twin in trouble.

If Ino was placed on a team with Shika and Choji, she would be relieved that they would watch over her twin, but then she would be on a team with strangers. Strangers who didn't know her and would probably expect her to be like her confident, bold twin, and Ria simply wasn't like that. Not truly.

"Hey." Shikamaru opened one eye to peer at her, "You shouldn't worry about it. Nothing you can do about it, really."

Ria sighed, tugging lightly at a blonde ringlet. She rather envied her sister's straight long hair since she could never do anything with her determinedly curly hair. "Mmk." She yawned, eyes fluttering.

He rolled his eyes at her, pushing himself up on his arms with a yawn of his own. "We should get going. Otherwise your dad's going to come and threaten me again."

At that, Ria blinked. She hadn't known that. "Papa really threatened you once?" She asked, getting to her feet and offering Shikamaru a hand. That didn't sound good.

He took it, letting her haul him to his feet, shoulders hunched as usual. "Yeah. It was troublesome."

She giggled at the classic Nara answer, blue eyes shining. It was probably okay then; Shika didn't sound very frightened. Ria didn't want her friend to be afraid of her Papa. "Did you do your homework?"

"Jeez, woman, didn't we just have this conversation?"

 **Massacre**

The years passed in a blur, barely registering with Ria. First she was six, and then seven, and then eight! Nothing much seemed to happen in the village, to Ino's disappointment and Ria's delight.

While Ino might long for excitement and drama, Ria was perfectly happy with the peace and calm, the routine bustling of Konohagakure. This was her _home_ ; she didn't want anything to happen to it. Not to her home or family or friends.

Which, she supposed, was the reason the Uchiha Massacre was so shocking and terrifying.

Ria stared at her Papa with wide, horrified eyes in the kitchen, where he had chosen to break the awful truth to them. "They're _all_ dead?! Everyone but Sasuke?!"

"Is he alright?!" Ino chimed in, face paler than normal.

"Yes, Ria. Uchiha Itachi killed them all." Papa's face was darker than she had ever seen it, even back during the Hyuga Abduction Incident. "As far as I know, Sasuke is fine. He's in the hospital right now."

"We have to go visit him!" Ino jumped to her feet, blue eyes flashing with determination. Inoichi frowned, would have interfered, but was beaten to it.

"No." It was Ria who caught the hem of her twin's shirt, pulled lightly.

Ino frowned, confused and mildly hurt. "Why not?!"

"He just lost his family, Ino." She pointed out softly. "I don't think he wants flowers and fruit now."

"But he might want company!"

"Maybe." But Ria didn't think so. He had to be positively devastated. "How about this? After he comes back to the Academy and seems settled in, you can give him some gladioli."

Ino didn't look very happy with the proposal, but nodded. Ria was ordinarily the one who knew how to treat sensitive matters like this the best, after all.

Inoichi simply looked over his girls and smiled proudly. They were growing up right before his eyes, a process that was both stunning and sobering to him as a father.

Several days later, Ria bit her lip and fussed over her bowl of white lilies, pink carnations, blue hydrangeas, and colorful chrysanthemums. To her left, Choji munched furiously on a bag of chips, and Shikamaru, as customary, was gazing at the white, fluffy clouds above head.

It seemed altogether a far too beautiful day mere days after such a tragedy.

After what had happened, as was expected, the security in Konoha had jumped a dozen levels. Papa no longer allowed Ino or Ria to go out alone or to anyone else's house without telling him. The Nara and Akimichi Compounds were still fine, though, but then again, Papa trusted his teammates the most.

Mama was upset, too. She was busy crafting the beautiful funeral arrangements all the other concerned citizens wanted to display at the funeral and give to Sasuke. The twins had spent a significant amount of time in the flower ship recently, cutting and pruning the flowers. Not that Ria really minded.

Ria heaved her third sigh in the past two minutes. She wished the Uchiha Massacre had never, ever happened.

"Oi, Ria."

She glanced up to see Shikamaru looking at her, dark eyes perceptive in that familiar way. His Papa, Shikaku, did the same thing. Choji paused in his munching for the moment, leaving the rooftop strangely silent. Ria didn't like it.

"Hmm?"

"What does a chrysanthemum mean?" He asked, completely out of the blue.

"What?" Ria blinked blankly.

"What does a chrysanthemum mean?" Shikamaru repeated patiently.

She frowned slightly in confusion, but said, "Sympathy, honor."

"Lily?"

"Innocence and purity."

"Carnation?" Ria spoke often enough about her adored flowers that Shikamaru, with his vast intellect and gifts of memory, knew of most of them. He didn't care about them like she did, but recognized their significance to her well enough.

"Pink for affection, white for innocence."

"Hydrangea?"

"Heartfelt, sincerity." She shook her head, pale blonde ringlets flying in the air. "Shika-kun, what is this about?"

He sighed himself, turning his eyes back towards the blue, blue sky. "Stop worrying about the Uchiha Massacre. It's a drag."

Ria bit her bottom lip, torn between feeling elated that he had noticed and tried to comfort her, and anxiety as the topic resurfaced in her mind once more now that the distraction of the flowers were gone. "But... an entire Clan destroyed in one night, Shika-kun! Aren't you even a little worried?"

"Why?" He said logically, yawning widely. "Uchiha Itachi was a one of a kind, super genius from what I've heard. There was no one else like him in Konohagakure. It probably _can't_ happen again."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Choji smiled at Ria, shoving a hand into his potato chip bag. "You shouldn't worry about it, Ria-chan."

She wavered uncertainly, wanting to believe in her friends but concerned all the same. "Do you guys honestly think so?"

"Uh-huh. You should just concentrate on making a totally awesome flower arrangement." Choji gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Shikamaru only yawned again, eyes closing. "Sure. Now let me sleep."

* * *

 _Next time:_

 _"Inoichi. Shikaku. Choza." The Hokage greeted evenly, fingers intertwined. "I've asked each of you to come here tonight to discuss team placements."_

* * *

 **Me: Kyaa! So much support! Thank you everyone!**

 **iciclefangAJ: Hmm... who knows? :P. Lolz, that you did. Thanks for much for being my first reviewer, darling!**

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 **Nikita: Yay, I'm so happy to see you here! Oh, I know what you mean; something like that happened to me once, too. I feel guilty to his day. As for Ino... well, I certainly don't plan on keeping her a static character here. She'll grow and change, just like everyone else. My summary is a bit shaky at this point, because I'm still trying to map out the story. I think I've already changed it three times, lolz. And thank you for pointing out that mistake! I changed it immediately. My thanks for the lovely review, hun!**

 **Rosy Fire: Hmm, yup! I said I would upload it one day, didn't I? Ria's really different from Kasumi and Maika, but she's fun to write. Thanks for the review, dear!**

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 **Me: Now, review and take a look at my blog! Ah, and thanks to my very talented beta. Cha~**


	3. Casablanca

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

 _Casablanca: celebration_

 **Aging**

The years passed by quickly after that. Not much really happened, to Ria's relief.

Sasuke came back to the Academy soon enough, and if he was cold and aloof before, he was even more so now. Ria was hesitant about it, but she gave Ino the go-ahead to give the "Last Uchiha", as they had started calling him, the gladioli a few weeks later.

Later, when asked about it, Ino had said that while Sasuke had accepted the flowers, he had done so in a really "cool and calm way." Ria took that to mean he hadn't really cared and might even be upset about it. She kept out of his way from there on.

Ria became nine. And then ten. She'd say that it was around that time that the boys realized they were boys and the girls realized they were girls. They had known before of course, but there was a difference between knowing and _knowing_. Naturally, and to her mild distress, a gulf opened up between them at once.

Things changed. A bit.

For one, Shikamaru and Choji started to go off with Kiba, Naruto, and Shino from time to time. Skipping classes, performing pranks, boy stuff like that. Ria didn't much like it, but reluctantly accepted that it was their time and never asked to be bought along.

Not that Shikamaru and Choji weren't still her best friends. Oh no, they still sat on the rooftop most days after school and talked and napped and ate. If that had been taken away from her, Ria wouldn't have tolerated that at all. If nothing else, she could always have told Ino.

Sometimes, Ria believed Ino could solve _anything_.

Her twin was awesome like that.

For two, since Shikamaru and Choji were spending boy time, Ria clung to Hinata and Ino for girl time. As she had expected, Ino and Hinata bonded over their shared love of flowers. Ino was always mostly the one talking, but Ria and Hinata occasionally got in a word or two.

For three, Mama started to talk to Ino and Ria about girl stuff. Like puberty and periods and things like that. Ria wasn't at all sure she liked this once-a-month-bleeding-thing, it sounded disgusting and gross and painful, but Mama assured her that she would get used to it.

Ino was just excited to start growing up and be beautiful like Mama and grow breasts and be womanly. She had been spending tons of time on her hair and skin recently, too. She had even started obsessing over her weight and watching the amount of food she ate daily.

Ria wasn't sure she wanted that sort of stuff to happen either, but she went along with it for her twin's sake. Personally, she didn't really care about her looks; her hair was always a mess anyways. But she did occasionally nudge her twin into studying for tests and doing homework.

After that, they turned eleven and then twelve.

And then it was time for graduation.

 **Placement**

"Okay, Ria, what's wrong?" Ino demanded the night before the final tests, hands on her hips.

Ria bit her lip, squirming nervously on her bed. The twins didn't share a room anymore as they had separated a year ago, but that didn't mean Ino didn't sometimes sleep in Ria's room or Ria didn't sometimes sleep in Ino's room.

"N-Nothing." She muttered, picking at her blanket.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Don't 'nothing' me! You've been upset since we got out of the Academy today! You're not worried about the tests, are you? You've always aced those things."

"No, I'm not worried about the tests." Ria took a deep breath, running a hand through her blonde curls. "Ino... have you thought about team placements yet?"

Ino blinked, looking surprised. It appeared that while prepared for many things, her twin hadn't been prepared for this. "Team placements?" Frowning, Ino walked forward and sat on Ria's bed, blue eyes concerned. "You're not stressed about the Ino-Shika-Cho thing, are you?"

"Aren't _you?_ I mean, one of us is obviously going to end up on a team with Shika-kun and Choji-kun."

"Hopefully it's you."

Ria's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "I-Ino!"

"What? I don't want to be with those idiots!" Ino scoffed openly. "You can have them, thank you very much!"

She spluttered helplessly, "B-Bu-But then you might be with some strangers!"

"So? It'll probably be better than with Shikamaru and Choji." Ino's face softened at her twin's utter incomprehension, smiling reassuringly. "Besides, they're your best friends, right?"

"R-Right."

"So you should have them." Ino said with conviction.

"A-Ah." Ria sweatdropped. "I don't think that's how it works..."

"Humph. I don't want those idiots. I want... Sasuke-kun!" Hearts shined in Ino's eyes, her hands clasped to her chest while sparkles twirled around her form. Her sigh was eloquently passionate.

"I see..." Ria shook her head and decided to leave her twin to her daydreams. She would never understand her twin's obsession with Uchiha Sasuke.

 **Test**

The next morning, Ria slid into the seat next to Hinata, tightening her ponytail quickly. "Good morning, Hinata-chan."

"Good morning!" Hinata smiled shyly at her.

"Do you think you're ready for this test?"

"H-Hai!" Hinata nodded quickly.

"That's good." Ria smiled sweetly, sighing softly. "I'm not so sure myself..."

"What a drag. Ria, you studied for four hours yesterday." Shikamaru craned his head back to look at her, seated a row in front of the two girls. "I would know, considering you somehow made me help you." He wasn't entirely sure how she had done it himself.

Her smile turned sheepish. "Y-Yeah. Thanks for that, Shika-kun."

"You're welcome. Now stop worrying and let me sleep." He commanded, head dropping to rest on his folded arms in preparation for a nap.

Ria shook her head in exasperation but obligingly said nothing more.

"I'm sure you'll do okay, Ria-chan!" Choji grinned at her, eating his chips.

"You too, Choji-kun." She smiled back, feeling herself relax minutely.

"SASUKE-KUN!"

Shikamaru groaned, bringing his hands up to clamp over his ears. Hinata winced visibly, eyes widening. "A-Ah."

Ria glanced at the group of girls circling around the Uchiha with some trepidation, noting to her slight discomfort that her twin was among the group. "Must they do this every day?" She questioned softly.

Choji shrugged, not bothering to stop eating. "Guess so."

"I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun today!"

"No, me!"

"Get away from him! I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

"Like hell!"

Ria spared a moment to feel sorry for Sasuke before Iruka-sensei strode into the room. Taking in the chaos in a glance, he slammed his hands on his desk, instantly silencing everyone. "Enough! Everyone, take a seat!"

Grumbling, the failed fangirls spread out to fling themselves into empty spots while Ino and Sakura glared at each other over Sasuke's head. Ria eyed the confrontation warily and shuddered.

"Alright! As everyone knows, today is the day of the Graduation Exam!" Iruka-sensei announced. "Once you pass, you will off-"

"Wait!" The door flung open with a bang and an orange blur streaked in, complete with goggles and a foxy smile. "The Great Uzumaki Naruto is here! Did you miss me?!"

A vein throbbed in Iruka-sensei's temple. "NARUTO! YOU'RE LATE!" He roared loudly.

Ria cringed back despite herself, wondering if their sensei would chose to give all of them an impromptu henge test again. He had done that yesterday, when Naruto had pulled another one of his pranks: vandalizing the Hokage's Mountain.

"Hehehe." Not looking the least apologetic, Naruto laced his fingers behind his head. "I overslept again."

Iruka-sensei sighed heavily and seemed to count down from ten inside his head. "Sit. Now." He commanded, pointing a finger at an empty seat. Naruto obeyed sulkily.

"Now, as I was saying" - Iruka-sensei directed a glare at Naruto - "Once you pass, you will officially be a Genin of Konohagkure. So do your best! We're going to start off for the moment with the Written Test..."

 **Graduation**

"To graduate, you'll have to the 'Bunshin no Jutsu' when you're called to come to the next room." Iruka-sensei told them three hours later. "Listen for your name."

It was alphabetical, so Ria let herself relax. Yamanaka was pretty much going to be at the end, after all.

"A-Ano. Did y-you think that you did okay in the tests?" Hinata asked timidly.

Ria smiled faintly. "Yeah. You?"

She nodded, pressing her fingers together. "I think I d-did well."

"Hmm... what team do you want to be on?" Ria asked quietly.

To her surprise, Hinata blushed bright red and looked down at her table. When she sneaked a glance at a certain blonde though, she understood.

"Ah. I see." Ria smiled gently. "I hope it works out."

If possible, Hinata seemed to go ever redder. "H-Hai!"

Both girls paused for a second to hear Sakura's name being called.

"Wh-What team do y-you want to be o-on?" Hinata asked.

At that, Ria looked thoughtful. "I'd like to be on a team with Shika-kun and Choji-kun." She said at last. "But I don't want Ino to be on a team with strangers, so..."

"Oh. I-I understand." Hinata jumped a little when her name was called. "I ha-have to go, Ria-chan."

"Good luck." Ria smiled encouragingly.

Not much later, her own name came up, after Ino's of course. Biting her lip, Ria got to her feet and stepped lightly into the next room.

"Ready?" Iruka smiled reassuringly at her, rows of forehead protectors lying on the desk in front of him.

Ria took a deep breath. 'You'll be fine,' she counseled herself. "Ready."

"Go."

Closing her eyes, Ria found her center, as Papa and Mama had repeatedly taught her. Reaching for that familiar chakra, she moved her fingers through the hand seals. "Bunshin no Jutsu."

A small poof of smoke to her left and right, and she opened her eyes to blink at two clones of herself that had just appeared. The clones blinked back at her before smiling proud smiles that Ria only really saw in the mirror and disappearing in double poofs of smoke.

"Congratulations, Ria." Iruka-sensei's smile was warm, proud. "This is now yours." He held up a Leaf forehead protector that she took carefully into her hands.

"You are now a Genin of the Leaf Village." He said to her. "Do your village proud."

Ria bowed her head respectfully. "Of course."

 **Celebration**

"Look at you two. My baby girls have certainly grown up." Inoichi grinned proudly at his twins.

Ria smiled back while Ino rolled her eyes. "Papa! We're not babies anymore!"

"Of course not, Ino." Hanako smiled graciously, nudging her husband's leg with her foot underneath the table warningly. "But I do think this calls for a celebration!"

"A celebration?!" Ino's eyes lit up, party girl that she was.

On the other hand, Ria's smile dimmed a bit. "A celebration?"

Mama's smile was knowing. When it came time for their birthday parties, the reaction of the twins had been ever constant. Ino would be the center of the party, basking in the attention of various children gleefully. Ria would be in the corner, chatting with Shikamaru, Choji, and occasionally Hinata, when Hiashi allowed it.

"A celebration." She repeated. "Just for our family."

Both girls looked skeptical, but didn't argue. It had been a while since their last family occasion, after all.

 **Present**

Before dinner was served, Inoichi gestured for the girls to take a seat. "Ino, Ria, I have a present for you two."

"A present?" They repeated in unison curiously.

He smiled, placing his hands on the table. They were closed, evidently holding something. "Here." Inoichi opened his hands to reveal two silver hoop earrings in each hand, ones that the twins recognized immediately.

They exchanged a glance.

"Papa..." Ino murmured.

"I split my old earrings." He said to them. "So you'll both have one. And one new earring, of course, for the new generation."

Surprisingly, it was Ria that reacted first. She took the ones on her Papa's left hand with a sincere, "Thank you, Papa."

"Thank you, Papa." Ino echoed, taking the ones on Papa's right hand.

Inoichi's smile was tender. "You'll always be my baby girls. Don't forget."

This time, Ino didn't protest.

 **Kunoichi**

Later that night, after a delicious dinner by Mama with a beautiful bouquet by Papa, Ria stood in front of her floor-length mirror and stared at the girl who stared back at her.

She had large blue eyes the exact same color as her twin and father, framed with pale blonde ringlets that touched the middle of her back when left unbound. Thanks to Ino's constant reminders on diet and weight, the girl was relatively skinny, though not nearly to the extent of her twin. Her small hoop earrings glinted silver in the faint light.

The girl in the mirror wore a semi-sheer, long-sleeved white shirt over a long white skirt with an organdy layer of lace flowers and two side slits that revealed the fishnet shorts underneath. The shinobi boots over her feet, weapons pouch strapped to her right thigh, and forehead protector serving as a belt pronounced her a kunoichi.

A kunoichi.

Ria... really was a kunoichi now.

She sighed, tracing the leaf insignia on the metal of her forehead protector. She guessed she should be happy about this... but having the former head of the Torture and Interrogation Department as a Papa meant that Ria didn't get to be as naive about the ninja life like some other genin.

'Well,' Ria reasoned, throwing herself onto her bed with a bounce or two. 'So long as I have Shika-kun and Choji-kun and Hinata-chan and Ino...

I'll be fine.'

 **Decisions**

Little did Ria know that right at that point in time, the former Ino-Shika-Cho were gathered in the Hokage's office, ready to make a decision that would shape how the rest of her life would turn out.

"Inoichi. Shikaku. Choza." The Hokage greeted evenly, fingers intertwined. "I've asked each of you to come here tonight to discuss team placements."

Shikaku sighed. "This is about Inoichi's little girls, isn't it? Troublesome."

The Hokage chuckled. "Yes, indeed. Ino-Shika-Cho is tradition, but we now have two girls from the Yamanaka Clan. Inoichi, thoughts?"

Inoichi sighed, face set in a deep frown. "They both have their merits." He said. "Ino's style of attack is best suited for the Ino-Shika-Cho since she's a good ten seconds ahead of Ria in taking over an opponent's mind. However, Ria, from what I know, is close friends already with Shikamaru and Choji."

"That's true." Choza spoke up, nodding. "I know Choji gets along very well with little Ria."

"Shikamaru also likes her." Shikaku said. "But it's possible that because Ria is so mild, that Ino-Shika-Cho won't get anywhere without a good kick in the behind from an outside source."

"That's true." Inoichi smirked. "I seem to remember me doing most of the work back in our genin days."

"You yelled at us until we got moving." Shikaku deadpanned.

"Same thing."

Choza laughed. "That's because Shikaku would spend all his time napping and I would spend all my time eating."

"Exactly. If it wasn't for me, our team would never have done anything." Inoichi said self-righteously.

"So, this is a competition between efficiency and harmony." The Sandaime said with a small smile, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Shikaku said. "If it's Ino, they may be better at formations, but their teamwork will be somewhat strained. If it's Ria, they may struggle a little in combat, but their teamwork will be damn near flawless."

The Hokage took a puff of his pipe, blowing out a breath of smoke slowly. "Has it always been like this?"

Choza shrugged. "I believe it developed like this, Hokage-sama. At the start, both Ino and Ria came over to the Akimichi Compound to play with Choji along with Shikamaru. Slowly, however, Ino started to drift away to mingle along other students at the Academy. Ria still comes by regularly, though."

"In that case, I'll leave the decision up to your three." Sarutobi said. "Who do you think would fit best?"

"If I may, Hokage-sama, who will be the jonin instructor?" Inoichi asked.

"Asuma."

"Ah." The three traded looks. They all knew of the Hokage's strained relationship with his son.

"What do you think, Inoichi?" Shikaku stuffed his hands in his pockets. "They're your daughters."

He hesitated. "I want to say Ria. I know her best friends are Shikamaru and Choji."

"But?" Choza prompted.

"I don't want Ino to end up with some strangers I've never met." Inoichi admitted.

"Actually," Sarutobi said, "you don't have to worry about that."

Inoichi blinked. "Huh?"

 **Memorial**

The very next morning, Ria woke up to her Papa gently shaking her. "Hmm... wha...?"

Inoichi smiled mildly. "Come on, get up, Ria. I want to take you and Ino somewhere."

"Oh." Yawning, Ria rubbed at her eye with a fist. "Mm-kay."

Ten minutes later though, and she wasn't feeling the least bit sleepy anymore. With wide blue eyes, Ria stared up at the large rounded stone that loomed over her, three familiar clan symbols carved at the top. Two stone pillars stood guard beside it, tall and proud.

This was...

"The Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi Clan Memorial." Her Papa's smile was wistful. He turned to face them, blonde hair blowing gently in the wind. There was a seriousness in his eyes that Ria wasn't sure she liked.

"Ino, Ria, you're now officially genin of Konohagakure." Inoichi said. "Whatever happens with the teams, I want you to remember that this place, this memorial, is a testament to the relationship between the Yamanaka Clan and the Nara and Akimichi Clans."

"Papa...?" Ino questioned, uncharacteristically hesitant.

He held up a hand, and she fell silent. "We made a pact." Papa said. "All three of us. That we would work together and protect Konoha... always. My beloved little girls, one of you isn't going to be on an Ino-Shika-Cho team."

Ria repressed a flinch. Ino shifted uneasily.

"But that's okay." Papa went on soothingly. "No matter what happens, this memorial and everything it represents will stay here. You'll still be a part of it. We are united, us three Clans, standing for Konoha and against our enemies. Do you understand?"

Ino and Ria exchanged a solemn glance.

"Hai, Papa."

 **Teams**

"Hinata-chan!" Ria fussed quietly, shaking the unconscious girl gently. "Wake up!"

"... uhh... Ria-chan?" Hinata's eyelids lifted slowly, milky lavender eyes glazed over.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"A-Ah. Wh-What happened?" Hinata sat up, glancing around the classroom in confusion.

"Oh." Ria paused, trying to figure out if she wanted to say the words out loud. "You saw something... erm... uncomfortable."

"Oh." Hinata breathed. And then, " _Oh_." She turned a little green.

Ria cringed slightly. "Yeah..." Watching Naruto and Sasuke kiss was probably one of the most scarring scenes she had ever seen. Naruto was still kind of smoking from the beat-down from Sasuke's fangirls.

"Starting today, all of you are real shinobi." Iruka-sensei said, standing in front of the class. He was holding something behind him... a clipboard? "But you are still genin. The hard journey that lies ahead has just started. Now you will soon get missions to help the village."

"So today we will create three man teams. And each team will have a jonin sensei. You will follow your sensei's instructions in order to successfully complete your missions." Iruka-sensei grinned, taking out the clipboard.

Ria blinked. Oh. That was... the paper that held the team placements. Oh dear. She bit her lip, heart pounding.

"Team One..."

There weren't any names she recognized in the teams that Iruka-sensei called out, at least not until Team Five.

"Team Five... Haruno Sakura..." Both Sakura and Ino tensed up. "... Onishi Tabito... and Uoya Noriaki..."

"Hah! Take that, Forehead Girl!" Ino grinned smugly while Sakura rested said forehead against her desk, a cloud of doom hanging over her.

"Shut up, Ino..." She groaned helplessly.

Soon after that, it was...

"Ok... next is Team Seven... Yamanaka Ino... Uzumaki Naruto..." The look of pure horror on Ino's face was almost amusing. Almost, because Ria was trying to assimilate the realization that her twin sister wasn't going to be on the Ino-Shika-Cho team, after all.

And she wasn't even with strangers!

"... and Uchiha Sasuke."

Oh, Kami-sama.

"YES!" Ino screamed, throwing her hands up in the air.

Ria thought she might have seen Sasuke's eyebrow twitch.

"See that, Sakura?" Ino turned to the fuming rosette with a smirk and a peace sign. "True love prevails!"

"Why you -!" Sakura's face was pinker than her hair.

 _"Ino's score tied with Haruno Sakura for Top Kunoichi." The Hokage explained. "She'll be with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, with Hatake Kakashi as their sensei."_

 _Inoichi paled, taking a minute to think of his shy, sweet little Ria with_ Uzumaki Naruto _and_ Uchiha Sasuke _with an influence like_ Hatake Kakashi _and said, "I'm sure Ria will be just fine with Shikamaru and Choji."_

"Iruka-sensei, why does an outstanding shinobi..." Naruto started to rant, but Ria ignored him in favor of Hinata, whose sigh was resigned.

"Neh, Hinata-chan." Ria nudged the other girl gently with her shoulder. "It'll be okay."

"I'm not with Naruto-kun." She whispered sadly.

"I know, but you'll see him around, right? We're all genin."

"Right..."

"Team Eight... Hyuga Hinata... Inuzuka Kiba... Aburame Shino." Iruka-sensei said.

"A-Ah!" Hinata glanced anxiously at Kiba, who only grinned at her, and Shino, who adjusted his glasses.

"And Team Ten... Yamanaka Ria... Nara Shikamaru... and Akimichi Choji." She had known immediately after Ino's name was called out that this would be the result, but actually hearing it...

Ria's smile was wide and bright, blue eyes shining happily. Choji grinned warmly at her, offering her a chip that she took as a shared congratulations. Shikamaru looked lazy as ever, but even he had a small smile on his face.

The light glinted off their earrings.

It was the most perfect, _perfect_ scenario Ria could have ever hoped for.

* * *

 _Next time:_

 _Their sensei grinned at them, warm and friendly. "Alright there? I thought this might be a good place for introductions and further instruction."_

* * *

 **Me: Yay! I updated! Reviews!~**

 **The Shadow Spectre: Lolz, nope! I don't have any plans like that. Thanks for the review, hun!**

 **Rosy Fire: Yup! I don't really like how Sasuke turned out, but you gotta feel sorry for that poor kid. I'm glad you like Ria, dear! Thanks for the review!**

 **Angel4EverLostInLife: You got it! XD, thanks for the review!**

 **jaz101: I'm so happy you like my story! As for POV, it's going to primarily be from Ria's but Shika'll have his time in the spotlight. Thanks for the review, darling!**

 **Mesip: That's wonderful! Hmm... at this moment, they're both still kids, but... , thanks for the review!**

 **the shadow of nature: Lolz, I appreciate it! Thanks for the review, hun!**

 **Nikita: Yup, yup! Ria's much too shy to actually approach Naruto head on, not that Shika would really let her. Besides, since Ino's on Team 7 in this story, she's not going to be able to remain much of a static character. I feel a little sorry for her. I'm glad you liked the flower scene; it was one of my favorites! And, yes, that was a mistake, thanks for catching it! Hmm... have you read Jasper Promise, the third story in the Gemstones Trilogy? I would love to hear your thoughts on it! Thanks for the lovely review and I hope you did well on your exams!**

 **toxic click: Glad you think so, hun! Thanks for the review~**

 **Me: Okay! Hmm... review and check out my blog? Cha~**


	4. Nasturtium

**Me: I do not own Naruto! At all! Also, since my muse is running around everywhere, updates might slow down for a bit. Sorry!~**

* * *

 _Nasturtium: victory_

 **Lunch**

By a silent agreement, Ria, Choji, and Shikamaru met up on the rooftop after Iruka had dismissed them.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Ria let out a blissful sigh. "I'm so happy," She confessed with a sweet smile.

Choji grinned widely, settling down on the floor. "I am too."

"Yeah, dealing with Ino would have been too troublesome." Shikamaru drawled, lying down with his hands behind his head.

"Shika-kun!" Ria protested halfheartedly, too happy to be seriously offended on her sister's behalf.

"Yeah, yeah. Just sit down, woman."

She shook her head, kneeling down. "I wonder what our sensei will be like..." Ria murmured as she unpacked her lunch.

"I just hope he's not too troublesome."

"Ah..." Ria blinked at her lunch. "Mama knew."

"Eh?" Choji sounded confused.

"Mama knew," She repeated with a somewhat exasperated smile. "She packed me a few pieces of Korean barbecue and mackerel." And while Hanako sometimes packed food for her friends, she had never packed their favorites before.

Choji's mouth fell open, and Shikamaru sat upright. Both of them stared at her.

"Korean barbecue...?" Choji breathed eagerly.

"Mackerel?" Shikamaru's eyes were wide.

She just smiled and tossed them the two packets. Choji fell on his barbecue like a starved wolf, and Ria was convinced that if it hadn't been too troublesome, Shikamaru would have done the same. Instead, he yawned and started to munch slowly.

Ria shook her head and turned her attention back to her lunch, eyes widening upon seeing the flower pressed between two pieces of tissue paper. She took out her sealed box of udon and whispered an "Itadakimasu" before digging in with chopsticks.

"How did your mom even know I love Korean barbecue best?" Choji said after a length of comfortable silence.

Ria shrugged lightly. "Mama has her ways. She might have asked your mama, though."

"Sneaky," Choji commented.

"Mm-hm." There was a reason Hanako had managed to catch Inoichi's eye.

"Ria, what's that?" Shikamaru glanced at the bright yellow flower she had put off to the side.

"A black-eyed susan," She replied, used to the Nara's idle interest in the flowers that Mama constantly packed into her lunches. "It means encouragement."

"So your mom did know, huh?" He sighed, falling back to cloud-watch. "Troublesome. That means your dad probably told her then."

Ria frowned a little. "Is that normal?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Probably not. Does it matter?"

"Not really," She conceded. Ria assumed it was on the Ino-Shika-Cho thing. "I hope Ino's doing okay..."

 **Pursuit**

"Aagh!" Ino threw her hands in the area a few floors down. "I can't find Sasuke-kun anywhere!"

The awesome, totally cool Uchiha had run off as soon as Iruka had dismissed them, and now she couldn't find him. Ino briefly considered the possibility that he was avoiding her, but quickly waved that thought away. She was sure Sasuke would be _thrilled_ to see her!

As for Naruto... well, Ino had no idea why Ria was nice to that idiot. He was such an obvious attention-seeker... although with the way he was treated, she could reluctantly see why. Still. His outfit was going to kill her eyes one day. It was _torture_ to look at.

But that wasn't what was important right now. What was important right now was that...

"Sasuke-kun?! Where are you?!"

 **Asuma**

Ria sat quietly at her desk, eyes wandering absently around the classroom. Hinata had gone off a few minutes ago with her teammates and a beautiful woman with red eyes. Most of the other teams were gone, too, with the exception of Team 7.

The door slid open a moment later and she resisted the urge to jump nervously. A man with brown eyes, short, black spiky hair, a beard, and a cigarette in his mouth walked in. He was wearing the standard Konoha uniform complete with the green flak jacket and forehead protector.

"Team Ten." He said in a warm, deep voice. "Come with me."

Biting her lip, Ria rose out of her seat and walked down the aisle, feeling her heart pound in her chest. Oh, Kami-sama. What if their sensei didn't like her? What if something happened? What if she ruined _everything_?!

Falling in next to her, Shikamaru yawning and Choji eating, the boys were a familiar, comforting presence. Before she stepped over the doorway, Ria saw Ino flash her that confident, bold smile and a reassuring thumbs-up. Her nerves settled. Mostly.

The jounin leaped onto a rooftop as soon as they were outside the Academy, and they obediently followed his lead as he began to roof-hop. They sprinted through half of Konoha, over Ria's flower shop and Choji's restaurant and Shika's research facility.

Their sensei led them far, far out into the outskirts of the village, way out into what Ria eventually recognized as the outlying training grounds. By now, they were tree-hopping. Ria was gasping for breath, leg muscles burning. Choji was red in the face, and Shikamaru was struggling a little, too.

Finally, he stopped on a clearing surrounded by trees and shrubbery on all sides. Wildflowers littered the ground among bright green grass, and a warm wind blew across the expanse, rustling leaves and branches. The jounin landed easily and turned to face them, looking as fresh as he had been when they'd started.

Ria wasn't anywhere close to that level of stamina. She gasped softly, frantically sitting down before she fell down. Shikamaru and Choji jumped to a halt on either side of her and joined Ria on the ground in trying to regain their breaths.

It looked like they were finally ready to start.

 **Introductions**

Their sensei grinned at them, warm and friendly. "Alright there? I thought this might be a good place for introductions and further instruction."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, closing his eyes briefly.

Ria redid her ponytail, more than a few ringlets having come loose.

Choji grabbed a bag of potato chips and started to eat.

He sweatdropped. "Okay, I'll go first, I guess. My name is Sarutobi Asuma. I like smoking, soba, and playing games. I dislike cats, debts, and asparagus. My goal is to protect Konoha to the best of my ability. Now, how about you, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru sighed, expression resigned. "What a drag. My name is Nara Shikamaru. I like playing shogi and sleeping. I dislike troublesome women and work. My goal is to marry an average girl and have two children before dying of old age."

Asuma-sensei's sweatdrop became slightly more pronounced. "Okaaaay... how about you, Ria?"

Ria squeaked mildly and stared at a bluebell. "Umm... my name is Yamanaka Inori, but everyone calls me Ria. I-I like gardening and flowers. I dislike... not much...? My goal is to... be as strong as my Papa and as graceful as my Mama."

'I think,' she added mentally. It wasn't like she had a really concrete dream like Uzumaki Naruto, who shouted said dream to the world every morning.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Asuma-sensei nod approvingly, though he still looked exasperated with their team. They weren't exactly normal or anything, so Ria could sorta sympathize. "Great! And now, Choji?"

Choji munched on a chip loudly and swallowed. "My name is Akimichi Choji. I like eating, especially Korean barbecue. I dislike people who call me fat, because I'm just BIG-BONED! My goal is to prove I'm a strong shinobi, too."

Asuma-sensei had jumped slightly at Choji's shout, although both Shikamaru and Ria had expected it. "Ahem. Well then, I can see that you are all very different and unique individuals." He said, blowing out a long stream of smoke. "I'm afraid I have a bit of an unwelcome surprise, though."

Ria bit her lip, eyes wide. "Surprise...?" She didn't particularly like surprises, not even the somewhat good ones.

He nodded gravely. "Yes. You see, every genin team must be given a test after graduation by their jounin sensei. In Team Ten's case, that would be me."

"Eeh?! But didn't we already pass our graduation test?!" Choji said, chopping furiously on potato chips.

"That was just to see who would have a chance at becoming genin." Asuma-sensei told them. "This is the real thing. Whoever fails gets sent back to the Academy. No pressure, though."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, brow furrowing. "When is this test going to be?"

"Calm down, grasshopper. I'm getting there," Asuma-sensei said, ignoring Shikamaru's eyebrow twitch and Ria's giggles. "Now, I'm giving you all a choice. We can have the test right here, right now... or we can do it tomorrow at the break of dawn. What do you say?"

On instinct, Ria glanced towards Shikamaru. He was the one with the brains, the one who made the plans. "Shika-kun?"

"Your call," Choji chimed in encouragingly.

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "... We'll do it now. No use dragging it out."

Asuma-sensei grinned. "Got it. In that case, your test is to catch me and hold me in place for half a minute."

Choji blinked. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"And wh-when...?" Ria trailed off hesitantly, but Asuma-sensei seemed to get what she wanted to say.

"We'll start in five minutes," He told her. "And you guys will have one hour."

"Soooo troublesome." Shika groaned, dragging himself to his feet. "Come on, Ria, Choji."

Ria was confused. Hadn't their sensei said the test started in five minutes? Why were they moving now? But Choji was already getting up, and she trusted Shika-kun's word, so she got up, too. He darted off, and after a quick look at Asuma-sensei - his grin was still there - Ria followed.

They jumped through the trees rapidly until Shikamaru jumped down, hiding behind some bushes. Ria and Choji landed beside him, and he turned around to face them so they were in a sorta triangle.

"Shika-kun...?" Ria whispered softly in confusion.

"Hush. Calm down." Shikamaru ordered, closing his eyes and cupping his fingers. "Ria, meditate. Choji, eat."

Naturally, Ria still had no idea what was going on, but it was _Shika-kun_ so she just sighed and closed her eyes as well. Inhale for seven seconds, hold for seven seconds, exhale for seven seconds. Repeat.

Her Papa was the one who had originally taught her this exercise when he had realized how anxious she could get before some important event or another, but it was Shikamaru that had helped her refine it. After finding that quiet space inside of her head, Ria began to list the one topic that was most familiar to her.

Flowers.

 _Alstroemeria, friendship. Amaryllis, beauty. Anemone, anticipation. Anthurium, hospitality. Aster, patience..._

And on it went.

Both Ria and Ino adored the flower shop. They had worked there since they were young, Hanako patiently teaching them the flower names and what they represented. Ino knew all of this, too, and she enjoyed the flowers and their beauty.

But Ria _loved_ it.

She was all the way at ' _Statice, remembrance,_ ' when Shikamaru's familiar voice broke through her trance.

"Alright," He said, and Ria opened her eyes. Shikamaru had let his hands drop and the look in his eyes, focused and determined, was familiar, if rare. Choji seemed to have eaten his way through two whole bags of potato chips and was smiling. "Here's how it's going to go..."

 **Test**

Asuma waited back in the original clearing, feeling pleasantly charged with anticipation. He couldn't wait to see what the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho had in store for him. As a child, Asuma had grown up hearing stories about their glory, although he supposed it might be a tad unfair to project such heavy expectations on green genin.

Admittedly, his excitement was somewhat dulled by prior information. Like grades. Asuma knew better than to judge entirely by grades, but the Nara and Akimichi had both nearly been dead-last of their class! The Yamanaka, Ria, had been average, which almost made it a bit worse.

And then had come their parents' words to him, the previous, famed generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho. When handing him a mission report, the last advanced one in a long while, Asuma had been told from Shikaku, "My son is a lazy bastard." Choza, who had been there as well, had laughed and shrugged.

Inoichi... well, the blonde interrogator had tracked down Asuma and told him that he had better treat his little girl right or _else,_ along with an entire stream of threats and death glares. Needless to say, Asuma had been dearly hoping young, fresh Ria Yamanaka wouldn't be too much of a hassle to handle.

Finally, there were the actual introductions and impressions. Shikamaru's little tirade was strange... and expected in its sheer laziness. The kid was a Nara all right. It was obvious that if Asuma wanted him to do anything at all, he would have to bribe or threaten or something.

Ria was surprising in that she was far more timid than Asuma had been led to expect from Inoichi's girl - maybe that was why he was so protective? - while Choji had been promising, albeit startling. Asuma made a note in his mind to never comment carelessly on the boy's weight.

Their five minutes of preparation time had flown past not long ago, and he had started the clock. Now, he was just waiting to see what the brats' first move would be. Asuma did hope they would hurry up though, he was growing bored. More time passed without action, and he was getting ready to seek them out when -

Asuma grinned and jumped in the air, narrowly avoiding the small tendril of shadow that had snuck up behind him. "Nice try!" He called, landing on his feet five meters away from his former position. A barrage of shuriken was sent after him as response... this time from his left.

Not batting an eyelid, the jounin ducked under the weapons and found his eyes locked with large blue eyes. Not two feet away, Ria raised her hands and formed a triangle with her fingers. Asuma frowned marginally; he knew the drawbacks of using that technique and he wasn't anywhere near immobilized yet.

She couldn't really be so stupid as to knock herself out of the fight this quickly, right?

Apparently not.

"Mind Body Switch Technique!" Ria yelled.

Sighing to himself, Asuma leapt into the air and watched with some disappointment as Ria's body collapsed. And here he had been expecting more from Inoichi's daughter. Ah well. He - there was a kunai heading straight towards him, an exploding tag trailing behind it in the air.

Raising an eyebrow, Asuma performed a seal-less body replacement technique with a nearby log. Landing lightly on a tree, he watched apathetically as his log was exploded into pieces, the heat wave from ten feet above hitting him harmlessly.

Now, time to find out where that little thing had come from.

A rapid Shunshin and he was standing behind a certain Akimichi. "Having fun, Choji?" Asuma grinned.

The squeal that passed Choji's lips as he jumped a foot into the area and spun around to face him really was amusing. "A-Asuma-sensei!" He gasped, eyes wide and mouth open.

"Hmm... where's Shikamaru?" He asked, glancing around him. It didn't look like the lazy Nara was anywhere close...

"Err... I don't really know," Choji admitted.

Asuma just shook his head. This team was strongly built on teamwork, and he had expected the brats to know and understand that. Drawing back his foot, he aimed a kick at Choji that was, surprisingly, dodged. Choji gulped harshly, jumping back while his hands sped through seals.

"Multi-Size Technique!" He announced, expanding the size of his abdomen to massive balloon-like portions. Asuma grinned, breathing out a breath of smoke. Now, this was better.

"Human Bullet Tank!" Tucking in his limbs, Choji turned himself into a meat ball, heading straight for Asuma. Better. But not enough. Choji couldn't turn, couldn't really aim in this form, and Asuma was a jounin. This technique would be devastating should he be immobilized... but he wasn't.

Leaping off the branch with a blast of chakra, Asuma briefly removed his cigarette from his lips as Choji blindly decimated trees and shrubbery. He sighed, smoke curling in the air. Jeez, he had expected more from an Ino-Shika-Cho group than this. His expectations probably _had_ been a little too high there.

Landing smoothly in the middle of the clearing they had originally started out in, Asuma glanced up at the sun. He would say... the brats had around ten minutes left. They had spent way too much time doing nothing useful. Well, time to find Shikamaru. He wasn't holding out hope though.

"HERE I GO!" Came a loud shout to his right, and Asuma raised his eyebrow as Choji came crashing through the row of trees, rolling forward without hesitation. Persistent one, wasn't he? Still, that sort of tactic hadn't worked once; it wasn't going to work the second time.

Circulating chakra to his feet, Asuma was getting ready to move when a kunai arched through the air. Sadly, the aim was terrible, and he blinked when it flew two meters to his left. What was _that_?! Was that supposed to do anything at all...? A decoy perhaps? Or just bad aim?

Asuma got his answer a second later, when the kunai cut a wire inconspicuously hidden by some branches. A rain of kunai fell from the sky not long later, accompanied by dozens of shuriken from the left. Choji was still coming from his right, and this was so _obviously_ a trap to his trained, experienced mind.

The Sarutobi could have avoided it.

He didn't. That wasn't the purpose of this exercise.

Jumping back, he deftly avoided the obstacles heading his way... and found himself unable to move.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu complete." Shikamaru declared, crouched in the shadows of the tree he had forced Asuma into. "Ria, now!"

Biting her lip, the Yamanaka stepped out from the tree she had hidden behind. She appeared timid, though evidently determined now to fail her teammates. Asuma glanced at the unconscious form that he had thought was Ria, only to find that it had been replaced by a log.

Huh. So, she had pretended she had knocked herself out, but had actually performed a Replacement Jutsu with a Henge Jutsu. Asuma was somewhat impressed; that wasn't easy for a genin. Taking a deep breath, Ria raised her hands and formed a triangle.

"Mind Body Switch Technique," Ria whispered softly, eyes fluttering closed. Her falling body was quickly caught by Choji, who looked on at the scene alertly, hand hovering near his shinobi pouch.

Asuma had been hit with a Yamanaka Technique. Most shinobi were, if only for a mental evaluation. It wasn't that the lot of them were mentally healthy, but there _was_ a limit to how messed up you could be before it was decided that it would interfere with normal training and missions.

This was different.

Ria was barely a genin, far from an expert in using her family techniques. She wasn't trying to take him over, interrogate him for information, or utilize his body to attack. The one and only motive she had was to immobilize him for half a minute.

Accordingly, it was subtle. Asuma tensed automatically as he felt her mind touch the edges of his, a foreign but not malignant contact. She pushed down on his mind, thoughtful and sweet, no real killing intent behind her actions, though her resolve didn't waver despite Asuma's apparent compliance.

If the majority of that Clan approached subduing a mind like an unmovable object that stood firmly between the victim's conscious and reality, then Ria was an unstoppable force. Her determination and strength washed over his mind in unrelenting waves, keeping him gently repressed. It was slow-going, but effective.

Correspondingly, it was no ten ton hammer coming down on him mentally. Rather, the feeling that crept over him was akin to slow-acting paralytic poison, sluggish and relentless. A weight that, while initially flimsy and feather-light, grew and grew until it was an anvil.

The Yamanaka made no move to try and completely force his conscious into hibernation or move his body, but carefully overwhelmed his mind so that he, while aware, couldn't shift an inch. With him also trapped by the Nara's shadow and with the Akimichi watching closely, it was the perfect combination to keep a target paralyzed.

Asuma grinned inwardly. Now _this_ was more like it.

"Fifteen seconds." Shikamaru said, though Asuma heard his voice as if it came from a distant tunnel.

 _"Neh, I'm sorry about this, Asuma-sensei,"_ Ria said mentally, increasing a bit of the pressure just in case he tried to escape upon hearing the time ticking down.

Asuma didn't. That wasn't the point. _"Don't worry about it, Ria,"_ He assured her with a chuckle. _"You're only performing the task I set up for you."_

"Five seconds."

Ria's mind shifted uneasily. _"Um... Asuma-sensei, do we pass now?"_

Asuma's mental grin widened. _"Sure you do. Now, let me go, alright?"_ Just because he endured it didn't mean he actually liked being immobilized and vulnerable.

"Zero." Shikamaru leaned back with a sigh, finally letting his jutsu go.

 _"Alright_." At the same time, Ria let go of her hold on Asuma's mind and snapped back to her body. She stirred with a soft moan, blue eyes slowly focusing on the outside world. Choji helped her to his feet with a warm smile.

Asuma straightened up, cracking his neck nonchalantly. "Well, then." He stopped, letting the tension rise.

Shikamaru groaned, propping himself up on his elbows. "Just spit it out, Sensei."

"Yeah, Asuma-sensei, how did we do?!" Choji chimed in, plopping himself on the ground.

Ria said nothing, but collapsed to her knees with a weary sigh.

Asuma grinned widely, sticking his hands in his pockets. "You guys pass! From here on out, we're officially Team Ten!"

Shikamaru let himself fall back down with another heartfelt groan, " _Finally_. So troublesome."

"Oh, thank Kami-sama." Ria breathed, shoulders falling with relief.

"Does that mean we can get dinner now?!" Choji wanted to know.

Asuma could only sweatdrop, 'Jeez, what have I gotten myself into...?'

* * *

 _Next time:_

 _Teamwork was the bedrock of Konoha, but for Team 10, it would be most everything. He supposed he couldn't be surprised that Asuma had expected them to be at odds._

* * *

 **Me: Okay! I finally updated! Errm... expect updates to be mostly sporadic until my muse comes wandering back. Don't kill me! Reviews~**

 **Rosy Fire: Lolz, yup! Sakura...well, I think she got the short end of the stick. Kishimoto designed her to be someone that "didn't get men." Yup, Ino ends up with Sasuke! Thanks for the review, hun!**

 **Angel4EverLostInLife: Okay! Here ya go, hope you enjoy~**

 **FleurSuoh: Yay! Plot twists are fun. Thanks for the review!**

 **Nikita: Congratulations! And you're very welcome. ^_^. Yup, Ino's on Team 7! Poor girl, with that team's luck... Asuma's way of training will be pretty laid-back, though not quite as much as Kakashi. Oh yes, Ino cares for her looks. Ria just sorta goes along with it. Yay, no spelling mistakes! Itachi...well, he's a very martyr like guy. Hella devoted though. Thanks for the lovely review, hun!**

 **Tusky: Lolz, I'm glad you think so! Thanks for the review!**

 **Marie: Yup, yup! Enjoy~**

 **Guest: Well, they met all right, though Asuma's kinda confused at the moment. No, no, that's probably totally a thing. Maybe when they're a bit older... thanks for the review, darling!**

 **Alice: Oui. XD**

 **ShikiUploadz: Is this your way of expressing fondness? o.O. Asuma... I haven't decided yet. *laughs evilly***

 **Yuki Daviji: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter!~**

 **Me: So my blog absolutely isn't working, don't know why. Darn. :/ But, my muse has been a-wandering so expect updates to be slow. Please review and thanks to my lovely betas!**


	5. Stephanotis

**Me: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

 _Stephanotis: good luck_

 **Pass**

"I'm home!" Ria called out softly as she stepped into the house, slipping off her shoes. She turned halfway to wave goodbye to Shikamaru, who had walked her home after Asuma's test. He waved back before strolling away casually for his own house.

"Welcome home." Hanako called back, somewhere in the kitchen.

"Ria! There you are!" A yellow and purple blur sped down the stairs, the sound of a slammed door echoing behind her. Ino swept her twin up in a warm hug, smile bright and blue eyes twinkling. Her answering smile on her lips, Ria hugged her back tightly; she had missed her sister.

"Ino's been home since six," Mama said, standing in the kitchen doorway in a white apron and holding a spatula in her hand. Her brown eyes were welcoming, her smile small and proud. "We were wondering what's keeping you, Ria." It was almost eight by now.

"Ah, Asuma-sensei had us do a test." Ria explained, cringing slightly at the memory of the fight. She had panicked the entire time, torn between believing in Shika-kun's genius and Choji-kun's strength, and mentally going over the many, many, _many_ ways Asuma-sensei could beat them into the ground.

He was a jounin, after all, and they were only genin. Barely genin, for that matter.

"Really?!" Ino exclaimed, pulling back to lead her by the hand to a seat at the table. "My lazy bum of a sensei has us taking a test tomorrow!"

"Ah." Ria blinked, curling up on her seat. "Who is your sensei anyways?"

"Hatake Kakashi." Ino rolled her eyes, tossing back her hair. "Don't ask me to tell you anything more about him, because he didn't say, just sported out a whole bunch of nonsense when we were supposed to introduce ourselves."

"So he didn't give up any information?" She reiterated hesitantly. That sounded an awful lot like what Papa repeatedly told them to do...

"I know what you're thinking, Ria, but I'm telling you, that's not it! Kami-sama, that man fell for Naruto's stupid eraser trick! Can you believe that?! He fell for a stupid genin prank! Plus, he was four hours late and read _porn_ right in front of us!" Ino ranted, eyes glinting angrily. "Porn, Ria!"

"O-Oh." Ria's eyes went wide, her cheeks flushing a pale pink. "I see... so he's giving you a test tomorrow?" She said, quickly changing the topic before Ino could truly go on a roll.

"Yeah." She inspected her manicured nails idly before grabbing hold of Ria's hand to inspect hers. "It's going to be really early, too. Kakashi-sensei better not be late!"

"I wouldn't count on that, Ino." Hanako warned with a laugh as she moved the broccoli around her pan. "Kakashi-san is very, very well known for his tardiness."

Ino groaned, head lolling back. "Great. Just great. Well, how about you, Ria? Your sensei _must_ be better, right?"

"I guess so." Ria responded with a small shrug. "Asuma-sensei seems nice."

"Wait, you said you had a test." Ino bolted upright, staring at her sister intently. "You passed, right? You must have passed!"

"Mm-hm." She nodded, a glimmer of pride in her eyes. "We passed."

"Well, don't leave me hanging!" Ino insisted, turning so she faced Ria. "Tell me everything that happened!"

Ria laughed softly, leaning back. "Well, first Asuma-sensei brought us to this training ground..."

 **Safe**

Later that night, the sun long gone over the horizon, Inoichi came home. His youngest daughter was asleep on the couch, an open book on the blanket spread across her lap and legs. Hanako came to greet him at the door with a kiss to the cheek.

"She passed." She said to him quietly, smile radiant in that subtle, lovely way that Inoichi had fallen in love with.

Inoichi grinned. "I know."

"Ino -" Hanako bought up, a strain of worry crossing her face, but Inoichi shook his head, pressing a finger to her full lips.

"Ino will be fine." He assured her, moving across the room with silent steps to kneel at his daughter's side. Inoichi gently brushed a strand of pale blonde hair from Ria's face, face softening.

"Inoichi..." Hanako knelt down beside him, lines of unusual stress on her forehead. "They're genin now..."

"I know, Hanako." Inoichi said, hand clenching. "I know." Now, his beloved daughters were legally adults, officially ninja. He couldn't shield them from that bloody, cruel world anymore; they needed to navigate it on their own.

Shaking her head, Hanako said, "You'd better get Ria upstairs. Asuma-san will probably have her doing missions tomorrow."

"... Yeah." Picking her up smoothly - she was still so light in his arms, so young and innocent - Inoichi steadily made his ways up the stairs and placed in her bed. She stirred a bit when he pulled the blankets over her, but calmed when he placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"Be safe, little jasmine."

 **Startle**

The next morning, when Ria woke up - mysteriously, in her bed, she was pretty sure she hadn't gone to sleep last night there - Ino was already gone. But then, hadn't her twin said that her training would take place very, very early in the morning...?

"I hope her sensei isn't late again..." Ria mused to her reflection, frowning at the mess of blonde curls and ringlets she was greeted with. She sighed; normally, Ino was the one who had to deal with her knotty hair, but her twin wasn't here today.

Making a face, Ria grabbed the hairbrush and forcibly dragging it through her hair, wincing and cringing. Ten long, painful minutes later, her hair was in a high ponytail, and she was running out the door, an omelet stuffed in her mouth. "Bye, Mama!"

"Bye, Ria! Have a good day, sweetheart," Hanako called back encouragingly.

Moving smoothly down the bustling streets of Konoha, Ria made her way to the training center and wondered what they were going to be doing today. Some training, perhaps? While she didn't _like_ training, she recognized that it was necessary anyhow.

Papa had said that they would start missions soon, but even though all ninjas took missions, she hoped that they wouldn't be too hard, because what if she would did something wrong?! Someone might get hurt... or, Kami-sama, what if - !

Ria arrived onto the training grounds to find Shikamaru flat on his back on the ground, hands behind his back, eyes staring straight up at the sky. It didn't look like Choji was here, yet; at this time, he was probably finishing his massive breakfast.

"Good morning, Shika-kun." Ria exhaled heavily, sinking to her knees beside him. Despite the cool, fresh air of the early morning, the lightheadedness that blurred the world around her was similar to if she had been sprinting. Her heart pounded heavily against her chest.

Dark eyes shifted a fraction to look at her lazily. "Mornin'." A pause as she tried to regain her breath. "It's too early for you to stress, Ria."

"You know me too well." She said, smiling sheepishly.

"Course I do." Shikamaru yawned widely, a few sleepy tears springing to his eyes. "Don't tell me you're worried about the missions."

"Err..."

" _Ria_."

"I'm sorry! But... what if something happens...?" Her brow wrinkled in her anxiety, her hands instinctively reaching for each other and twisting restlessly.

Shikamaru gazed at her, taking in the honest concern churning dark in cornflower blue eyes, and grumbled halfheartedly, "Ria, things are always going to go wrong. What matters is how you react to it."

"I panic." She pointed out the obvious dryly.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but me and Choji will be there with you. So it'll be fine." So simple, so easy... but Ria couldn't deny his logic. She never really could.

Ria worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "I guess..."

Before Shikamaru could respond, a familiar voice rang through the clearing, putting their conversation on hold.

"Good morning, guys," Choji greeted as he trotted in, a wide smile on his face.

Ria lit up, a matching smile tilting her lips, "Good morning, Choji-kun. How are you?"

"Good." Choji plopped himself down on Shikamaru's other side, casting a look around their surroundings. "Where's Asuma-sensei?"

"Here," Came the unexpected answer from behind Ria, and she gasped, instinctively jumping to her feet and whirling around in surprise. Shikamaru tensed, head snapping to the side while Choji's eyes widened and he half got to his feet.

Asuma-sensei grinned at them, standing five feet away from Ria, hands tucked casually in his pockets and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Hey, guys."

"... Asuma-sensei, you scared me." Ria scolded lightly, sinking back down with a hand over her rapidly thumping heart.

He chuckled, grabbing his cigarette between two fingers. "Sorry."

"Are we going to be doing missions today, sensei?" Choji asked, settling down as well.

"Yeah, but not yet." Asuma-sensei hunched down, breathing out a stream of smoke. "I want you all to do an exercise."

"An exercise?" Shikamaru repeated warily, ticking up an eyebrow.

"Right. You guys up for it?"

"Umm... sure?" Ria said hesitantly.

Choji shrugged. "Okay."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru groaned.

Asuma-sensei sweatdropped. "Okaaay then."

"What would you like us to do, Asuma-sensei?" Ria prompted, feeling slightly bad for the man. They probably weren't what he was expecting. At all.

"I want you to introduce your teammates to each other." He said with a sly grin.

Startled, Ria, Choji, and Shikamaru exchanged glances.

"Introduce each other... to each other?" Choji frowned, brow furrowing.

Asuma-sensei nodded. "Yeah. Good points, bad points, everything. Hmm, Shikamaru, why don't you go first?"

 **Introductions - Part 2**

"What a drag." Making a disgruntled face, Shikamaru pushed himself up into a sitting position, gazing at his two teammates with heavy-lidded eyes. They blinked back at him, Ria uncertainly and Choji bemusedly, both seeming rather confused as to why they needed to perform this exercise.

Then, he flicked a gaze at a nonchalant Asuma and wondered if the jonin was trying to clear the air, so to speak, expose any vendettas before it had a chance to do extensive damage. If so, he was going to be disappointed. They were childhood friends, best friends; there was very little Shikamaru didn't know about Ria and Choji and vice versa.

"Fine. Ria, you're the least troublesome female I know. You don't nag, you don't scream, but you do have a bad tendency to fret and fuss. Some things you just can't control, woman, stop worrying about it." Ria smiled sheepishly, but didn't refute his conclusion, not that he ever thought she would.

He shifted his attention to his other teammate. "Choji, out of everyone, you're the kindest. Don't listen to all the morons who comment on your appearance. Careful with the eating though. Might get in the way during missions and all that." Choji nodded, positively beaming at the praise.

"Thank you, Shikamaru." Asuma said easily, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Ria?"

Ria bit her lip, tugging at an errant blonde ringlet considerately. "U-Umm... Shika-kun, you're very smart. But you're kinda lazy, too... so most of the time you don't do anything with your brain cause it's too 'troublesome.'" Shikamaru smirked, unrepentant. It was true, after all.

"Choji-kun... you're nice. And caring. Hmm... maybe work on your self-confidence a little more?" Ria offered hesitantly, "I'm sure you'll become a great shinobi; you don't have to doubt yourself." Choji frowned considerately, but nodded, a determined set to his mouth.

"Alright, Choji?" Asuma prompted.

Choji grinned, face lighting up, "Okay! Shikamaru, you're my best friend and I think you're great! No one ever beats you at shogi. You like to give up, though. In a fight, that'd probably be a problem or something." Shikamaru sighed, but accepted the judgement as the truth.

"Ria-chan, you're really sweet. You always make pretty flower arrangements." Ria blushed bright red, but there was a pleased smile on her lips. "You should totally eat more though. By the way, Mama wants us all to come over for dinner tomorrow," Choji remembered.

"Eh, why not?" Shikamaru shrugged.

"I'll ask Papa." Ria assured him.

Choji glanced at Asuma, who pointed at himself in a 'me-too?' gesture. When he nodded enthusiastically, the jounin grinned warmly, "I'll be there, Choji. Looks like everyone's done; you guys _are_ best friends, aren't you?" He had the tone of someone who had been told the truth, but hadn't believed it.

The three of them blinked up at him, exchanging looks. From the slight crease of Ria's forehead and Choji's frown, Shikamaru gathered that they hadn't realized that it was beyond rare for friends, much less best friends to be paired up in a single team. Three best friends altogether was the stuff of miracles, but that was the strength of the Ino-Shika-Cho combination in the first place.

In fact, if he had to guess, Shikamaru would say that that was why they had eventually decided on Ria being placed on the team instead of Ino, who was the actual Heir to the Yamanaka Clan when push came to shove. Teamwork was the bedrock of Konoha, but for Team 10, it would be most everything. He supposed he couldn't be surprised that Asuma had expected them to be at odds.

"Of course," Shikamaru said, yawning widely. Jeez, it wasn't even noon yet and he wanted to take a nap.

"Since the Academy?" Ria added shyly.

"Yeah!" Choji gave their sensei a thumbs-up.

Asuma shook his head but it wasn't in disapproval. "Well, I'm sure that'll work to our advantage later on. Now, it's time for some missions!"

"Oh..." Ria shifted, no doubt starting to worry again.

Choji grabbed a bag of chips and started to eat.

Shikamaru made a face. This was so... "Troublesome."

 **D-ranks**

"Hey, Asuma-sensei?" Shikamaru called as he scrutinized their list with a scowl.

"Yeah?" The older man walked behind them, hand in his pocket and cigarette in his mouth.

"Does this honestly count as a mission?" Choji asked bluntly, staring blankly at the bags of groceries he carried. As it turned out, he was responsible for carrying the bags while Shikamaru made sure they had everything they needed and Ria picked out the best produce.

"It does seem a bit mundane..." Ria agreed, biting her lip lightly.

Asuma chuckled, blowing out a breath of smoke. "That's D-ranks for you. Hella boring but they have to be done."

"And we have to do them as fresh genin?" Shikamaru deadpanned, crossing off 'carrots' from his list.

"Yeah. Sucks to be you guys, I guess." He smiled when he said it though, tone sympathetic.

"Umm... does it actually do anything other than get the chores done?" Ria wanted to know.

Asuma hummed thoughtfully, "Actually... yes."

"What?" Choji scratched the back of his neck.

"The D-ranks are meant to improve your teamwork, otherwise smooth out any jinks in the team, and make your status as a genin well known in the village." He explained. "Sorta like helping you gain street cred."

"Ooh." Choji nodded in understanding.

"Radishes next." Shikamaru muttered.

"Those are on the other side of the market..." Ria said.

"What a drag."

 **Bells**

"I'm home!" Ria called out with a sigh as she kicked off her shoes. Team 10 hadn't gotten many D-ranks done - three - but she was still tired. Maybe that meant she should work on her stamina?

"Ria!" A blonde blur zoomed out of the kitchen to collide with her. Ino grinned widely, blue eyes sparkling, "I passed, I passed!"

"Oh!" Grinning back, Ria pulled her twin into a hug, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks." Ino giggled, grabbing her hand to pull her into the kitchen where their Mama was already getting ingredients ready for dinner. "Come on, I'll tell you all about it!"

"Welcome home, Ria." Hanako greeted evenly, peeling the cucumber she held in her hands with graceful movements. "Ino's been itching to tell you about her test for two hours."

Ino stuck her tongue out childishly at her, "Mama!"

"Hai, hai, tell your story."

Ino humphed, tossing back her hair. Taking a seat at the table and patting the seat next to her until Ria sat down, too, she said, "So, we had a different test than you did."

"What was it?"

"We had to take a bell from Kakashi-sensei."

"A bell?"

"Yeah. He had two bells and to pass, we had to have a bell at hand when the timer rang." Ino's mouth twisted in dislike, "Can you believe it, Ria?! He was late! Again! And this time, it was way more than three hours!"

Ria winced. Ino was not known for her patience. "Two bells?" She prompted, hoping to change the topic before her twin could go into a full fledged rant. "But it's a three man team."

"Mm-hm." Ino nodded fiercely, a smug smile spreading across her lips. "It was a teamwork exercise. _I_ figured it out first." And then she deflated abruptly "But Sasuke-kun wouldn't listen to me."

"Ah. U-Um... what about Naruto?" She was pretty sure the blonde was nicer than Sasuke.

"He was too busy thinking about food." Oh, but he was kind of not-smart, too... "Anyway, so we split up and then Kakashi-sensei sprung a terrible genjutsu on me, Ria!"

"Really?" It couldn't be that bad... could it? "What was it about?"

Ino shuddered, making a pained face. "It was Sasuke-kun... but he was all bloodied and shuriken and kunai were stuck all over him! And he couldn't stand and it looked like he was dying, _dying,_ Ria! It was dreadful!"

"Oh. B-But you got out, right?" Ria didn't think she wanted to witness a genjutsu like that with Shika-kun or Choji-kun. It would probably be _awful_ _._

"Course I did!" Ino huffed, throwing her hair back. "Papa taught us how to break out of genjutsu when we were ten, remember?"

"Mm-hm." The thing was, no matter how much the Academy might preach otherwise to civilian parents, clan-born children always had an advantage. Their parents, relatives taught them about chakra, jutsu, combat since they were able to walk. Being the daughters of Inoichi meant that Ino and Ria knew how to spot the liars and deceivers, how to lie and trick others without a single telling sign.

More than that, clan-born children were, almost unnoticeably, favored by the system. It was why Ino had been chosen over Sakura for Team 7, not that the two girls knew that.

"What happened after that?" Ria asked curiously.

"Well, I dispelled the genjutsu, right? Then, Kakashi-sensei showed up _again_ and I tried to kick him, but he jumped out of the way. Now, if I had been able to hit him with my Mind Tranfer Jutsu everything would be fine then, but nooooo, Naruto and Sasuke-kun just had to be stubborn and proud. So, Kakashi-sensei ended up trapping me in an earth jutsu." Ino pouted, crossing her arms.

"An earth jutsu?"

"Yeah. He pulled me down up to my neck into the ground." Her twin scowled in disgust, "It was disgusting! I made sure to take a shower as soon as I got home."

Ria giggled. That was Ino for you. "How did you get out?"

"I didn't." She sighed tragically. "Naruto had to dig me out after the timer rang." A heavy cloud of doom appeared over her head. "I had to get rescued by _Naruto_. Why couldn't it have been Sasuke-kun?!"

"A-Ah." Ria decided to ignore the Sasuke comment as she had been doing for the past few years and move on, "If you didn't get the bells, how'd you pass?"

Ino perked up, diving right back into storytelling mode, "Right?! I was surprised, too! So, after we all came back to where we started, Naruto got tied to a stump cause he was such an idiot, you know, but then Kakashi-sensei gave us these bentos and told them that we could have a second chance so long as we didn't give any to Naruto."

"It was _obviously_ another test so I gave a bite to Naruto as soon as Sensei left. Oh, and Sasuke-kun did, too! He was so cool..." Ino obtained a dreamy look on her face, eyes staring into the far off distance.

Ria sweatdropped, raising a hand to wave back and forth before Ino's eyes. "Ino... Ino!"

She jolted, snapped out of whatever daydream she was having, "Huh?! What?! Here!"

Ria laughed, a small smile tugging at her lips, "You didn't finish your story. Did your sensei find out you were breaking his rules?"

"Oh. Yeah!" Ino nodded enthusiastically, grinning, "But it was a total scam, like I thought. And then he said something like, 'those who break the rules are scum, but those that abandon their friends are worse than scum.' It was really cool even though I already knew that!" Stars twinkled around her briefly.

Ria nodded in understanding. Even though Ino didn't end up on the Ino-Shika-Cho team, they had had teamwork beaten into their skulls since birth. It came as easy as breathing. "And then he passed you guys?"

"Mm-hm. It was great! Though Sasuke-kun didn't want to have dinner with me..."

Ria laughed warmly and hugged her sister, "Well, I'm glad that you passed, Sasuke or not. You're starting missions tomorrow?"

"Yeah! You already had some today, right?" Ino pulled away to pin her with an inquisitive look, "How did they go?"

"Hmm, well..." Ria smiled ruefully. "They were really boring actually."

"Eeh?!" Ino seemed at a lost for words before puffing out a breath. "And here I thought they would be fun."

"Yeah, no." She shook her head before turning to Hanako, who was just about done with dinner, "Mama? Choji-kun's Mama wants me over for dinner tomorrow."

"That's fine, honey." Hanako assured her, plating the food. "But make sure to let your Papa know."

"Mm-kay."

Ino grinned widely and tugged lightly at her left earring, "Well, we both passed and that's a thing to celebrate, right?"

Ria looked cautiously at the glint of mischief in her twin's eyes, "... Right?"

"Right! So we should totally have pudding for dessert tonight!" Ino turned pleading eyes their Mama's way, who laughed fondly.

"Hai, hai."

"YES!" Ino threw her hands in the air and grabbed Ria's hand, "Come on! Let's make the pudding!"

Ria smiled indulgently, "Hai, hai..."

* * *

 **Me: I'm very sorry, everyone, but all of my stories will be on hiatus for now. I've just lost interest in writing for the time being. Still, thank you all for sticking with me and, of course, thanks to my beta, who is awesome.**


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